220 
AMERICAN AGrKIOULTUEIST. 
[June, 
The Ponds Suitable for Black Bass. 
Numerous inquiries are received about fish ponds, 
especially ponds suitable for Black Bass. As these 
can be raised where trout can not be, the gen¬ 
eral expectation seems to be, that Black Bass will 
flourish in any horse-pond 
that does not entirely 
dry up in the summer. 
The natural habitation of 
this fish is the St. Lawrence 
basin, where it flourishes 
in the large lakes, and in 
the streams that feed them. 
Its favorite places of re¬ 
sort are upon rocky shores, 
and in the rough water 
at the foot of water-falls. 
It is a large, gamy fish, and 
wants plenty of room, and 
an abundance of live bait. 
It is an enormous feeder, 
and will hold its own in a 
well stocked lake against all 
other kinds of fish. It is the 
only fish we know of that 
will clear a pond of Pickerel. 
It requires gravel in some 
part of the water in which it 
is planted, for breeding pur¬ 
poses. It makes nests like 
the roach, in which to lay 
its eggs, and in the Northern 
States, spawns in May and 
June. If the gravel is not 
there as a natural deposit, it 
must be supplied artificially. 
Of course, all efforts to plant 
a fish of these habits in 
small, artificial ponds, stag¬ 
nant during the summer, 
must be unsuccessful. A 
small pond of an acre or 
two, if fed by springs, or if a 
living stream, stocked with 
other fish, runs through it, 
may support a few Bass, and 
answer as an amusement. 
But to raise Bass for profit, 
we must have a large pond 
of twenty acres or more, or, 
in its absence, a stream large 
enough to furnish water- 
power for factories. These 
fish have been quite ex¬ 
tensively transplanted in 
New England during the 
last twenty-five years, and 
the conditions of success are 
pretty well understood. 
They thrive almost uniform¬ 
ly in large ponds, and lakes 
at the head of streams, and 
when these become full of 
fish, they escape at the lower 
out-let and stock the streams 
below clear to tide-water. 
The fishing not infrequently becomes better in the 
lower waters of the stream, than at the pond where 
they were planted, especially if the pond is small, 
shallow, or muddy. The fish, if left free, will find 
the breeding grounds, and conditions of life that 
suit them. They do best in large bodies of water, 
with rocky or gravelly bottom, and are in no haste 
to leave such localities. One or two hundred Black 
Bass put into such a pond or lake, will multiply rap¬ 
idly, and furnish good hook fishing perpetually af¬ 
ter the fourth year. The earliest ponds stocked in 
Connecticut were, Waramang Lake, in New Pres¬ 
ton, Long Lake, at Winsted, Pocatapang, at East 
Hampton, and the reservoir pond at Bolton. This 
last pond has stocked the Willimantic, the She- 
tucket, and Quinebang, below, and Black Bass are 
frequently taken in th : Shad seines near tide-water, 
at Greenville. Judging from this experience of 
pisciculturists, it is idle to plant Black Bass in 
email ponds of an acre or two, near the homestead. 
The best thing, for one who is fond of the rod and 
fly, to do, is to unite with his neighbors of similar 
tastes, and stock the nearest lake or river where 
there is abundant room for Bass. It should not 
lessen their pleasure, to know that at the same 
time they are increasing the food supply of their 
neighbors. 
Connecticut. 
iberian iris. —( Iris Ibcrica.)—See ‘'■Notes from the Pines," page 222. 
How to Use Driving Belts on Machines 
Now that machinery and farm engines are com¬ 
ing into general use, a few hints as to the best 
methods of choosing and working belts will be use¬ 
ful. There are good and bad belts, although re¬ 
spectable makers of belts choose the best material 
and manufacture it in the best manner. A good 
leather belt, one inch wide, should lift. 1,000 lbs.; 
if it breaks under this strain, it is.imperfect. A 
good belt should last at least three years, if it is 
protected, as it should be, from moisture. A belt 
that is made to run on the flesh side; will, with care, 
outlast four of five belts run exclusively on the 
hair side, providing the flesh side is stuffed with 
tanner’s dubbing. Soft and pliable belts have 
three times the adhesiveness, and consequently the 
power, of hard stiff ones. For dry, warm places, 
soft, coarse leather will do good service ; but for 
moist or damp places, the finest grained and the 
firmest leather only, should be used. A thick belt 
is not always stronger than a thin one, the quality 
of the leather is the most important factor in the 
strength of the belt. The best belts are cut fronx 
the center of the hide. A belt may be made to run 
five years by careful use, that would otherwise be 
ruined in one year. A belt should run free and 
easy; tight belts arc soon¬ 
est worn out, and they cause 
the bearings of the shafting 
to heat and wear very quick¬ 
ly. The lace-holes of belts, 
are oftener torn out by hav¬ 
ing the belts too tight, than 
by weakness of the leather. 
The lace-holes should be 
made with an oval punch, 
the length of the hole be¬ 
ing parallel with the length 
of the belt. The lacing of a 
belt should begin at the mid¬ 
dle, and each side should be 
drawn up with equal tight¬ 
ness. The ends should be cut 
exactly square, and the liues 
of holes parallel with the 
ends; the crossing of the 
laces should never be on the 
pulley side of the belt. No 
other manner of connecting 
the ends of the belts is so 
good as lacing; this is elastic, 
and runs without noise or 
jar over the pulleys. The 
friction of a belt is twice as 
much on wood as on iron. 
If the pulleys are covered 
with leather, the belts may 
be run much slacker than 
otherwise, and they will last 
one-fourth longer. When a 
belt slips, the inner surface 
should be sprinkled with a 
mixture of Spanish white 
(fine whiting) and rosin, fine¬ 
ly powdered. If a belt be¬ 
comes smeared with oil or 
grease, it should be coated 
with fuller’s-earth, and the 
inside scraped with a sharp- 
edged wooden blade. Soft 
wood is better for pulleys 
than hard wood; for round 
belts pear-wood wheels are 
the best. Tighteners should 
only be applied to the slack 
side of the belt. If pulleys 
are a long distance apart, it 
will be better to have a loose 
pulley placed midway, and 
use two belts rather than 
have so much sag in one long 
belt, as this causes a flapping- 
motion and bears too heavily 
on the journals. When a 
journal heats, it may best be 
cooled by placing an end¬ 
less belt of flannel as near as 
possible to the heated part, and causing the lower 
bight of the belt to run in a vessel of cold water. 
Pulleys should always be a little wider than the 
belt. When a belt runs over one side of a pulley, 
that side of the pulley is higher than the other, or 
the belt is shorter on that side. When a belt be¬ 
comes mouldy from neglect, it should be well rub¬ 
bed with a dry cloth, and then with pyroligneous 
acid; this acid will prevent mouldiness on belts 
that are used in damp places. If the laces aro 
gnawed by rats or mice, they should be soaked in 
castor oil mixed with an equal quantity of tallow ; 
no vermin will meddle with leather that has been 
dressed with castor oil. When a belt is found to 
slip, the slip will be on the larger pulley, and not 
on the smaller one. No belt should ever run under 
a tension of over 300 pounds per inch of section. 
Never attempt to put a belt upon a pulley while it 
is in motion. All these rules, except where the 
contrary is obvious, apply equally to rubber belts- 
